Toolkit and an action database to assist evidence-based regional planning

The aim of the HealthEquity-2020 project was to assist regions in Europe in drawing up evidence-based action plans to address socioeconomic health inequalities. An important product of the project is a comprehensive Toolkit developed by the Erasmus University Medical Centre. The HE2020 Toolkit provides a step-by-step approach helping regions undertake evidence-based action planning in order to tackle health inequalities.

The toolkit follows a structured approach; it consists of four phases that are important in developing evidence-based action plans:

The HE2020 Toolkit is intended for everyone who wants to learn more about how to assess and address socioeconomic health inequalities in a regional setting (the subnational setting such as state, district, province, territory, municipality, etc.). Most of the tools are also relevant for anyone wanting to learn more about how to address socioeconomic health inequalities in a local or national setting. The toolkit can be used with different starting points in the region and different user knowledge levels, although some basic knowledge of health and health determinants is required. The toolkit guides the reader through a step-by-step approach that can be sequential but is also sometimes parallel or iterative.

Each tool has been shared with the 10 participating regions which tested them in practice during the course of the project. Based on the experiences of the regions and external reviews the toolkit has been revised and finalized. The web pages of the toolkit are already under testing.

In addition, an Action Database contains a range of policies, interventions and programmes that aim to reduce socioeconomic health inequalities. Both effective actions and good practices are included..